Inquirer Staff Writer Alfred Lubrano uses an interesting choice of words in the first sentence of his lead:

Just one in three low-income students eligible for free or reduced-price breakfasts got those meals in Philadelphia schools during the 2006-07 school year, according to a national report released yesterday.

The curious part is the word GOT, which connotes the idea that eligible students are lining-up in Philadelphia public schools to receive their free meals but through some fault of the district, they’re not receiving them.

Just one in three low-income students eligible for free or reduced-price breakfasts ACCEPTED those meals in Philadelphia schools during the 2006-07 school year, according to a national report released yesterday.

This would shift the responsibility away from teachers and schools and place it where it belongs: On the parents and the students themselves.

“The real problem with breakfast has been the resistance at the local school level,” Stein told the Inquirer. “Many principals and staff have not been gung-ho behind breakfast. And this is a laissez-faire district where the principals essentially call the shots.”

Again, the wording is misleading.Principals HAVE offered free breakfast in schools around the district, but not in the way people like Stein find acceptable.

The typical school breakfast in Philadelphia is served in the cafeteria in the morning, about 20-30 minutes before the instructional day begins.The breakfast is FREE, and ALL students are eligible.

Then why are only one in three low-income students getting breakfast?Because many kids come to school late, opting to smoke a cigarette at the bus stop or listen to their iPod on the corner.Others eat Dortios and Pepsi for breakfast, while some stop off at Dunkin Donuts for a nice cup of joe.Others fuel up on energy drinks, such as Red Bull or Monster.

And some just flat out aren’t hungry.

So who’s at fault here?The students themselves?The parents who fail to instill in their children the importance of eating a healthy breakfast?

Of course not.It’s the school’s fault.It’s not enough to just offer meals completely free of charge, but now people like Jonathan Stein are insisting principals and teachers get “gung-ho” about breakfast and stop their “resistance” to such meals.

“They should make it policy in Philadelphia to have in-class breakfast feeding,” Fisher told the Inquirer. “It seems the model works well in other places.”

So let me get this straight.In 2006-07, the PhiladelphiaSchool District made breakfast available to all kids in all schools, 75% of which got them for free or at a reduced rate.Then in September of 2008-09, the district pulled out all the stops and decided to offer free meals to all students in all schools.

But this still isn’t good enough.Now antipoverty advocates want meals served in-class.

I see.Milk and juice and syrup and French toast and bagels and cream cheese.Outside the lunchroom.At students’ desks.Where their books are.And papers.And pencils.And this is supposed to be done when?In place of which part of the mandated curriculum?

Wayne Grasela, senior vice president of food services for the district, even suggested holding principals accountable for students taking part in the free meals.According to the Inquirer, Grasela “is recommending to the district that the performance of principals in breakfast service be included in their job evaluations.”

Hmm, nice touch.While we’re at it, why not hold the teachers accountable as well.Dock their pay $50 a shot for every scrambled-egg platter that isn’t finished by the kids.

Apparently, underprivileged children and their parents are too helpless and feeble-minded to accomplish the most basic of organizational tasks (such as getting to school in time for a free meal). It’s just this kind of insulting, condescending mentality that prevents too many capable families in Philadelphia from becoming independent and taking back control of their lives.

And it’s just this kind of twisted blame-game that keeps too many quality educators out of Philadelphia’s public school system.

3 responses to “Schools should not be held responsible for students refusing free meals”

Now that is a mind-blowing article. This is proof positive that some people have it totally backwards.
Those people want to keep the poor people dependent and irresponsible. I guess they feel “poor people can’t be held accoutable.”
I think the Inquirer should be flogged because less people are reading the paper. Doctors should be castigated because poor mothers don’t get the propef shots for their kids. We can go on and on—BUT ONLY THE TEACHERS GET BEATEN TO A PULP AND ARE THE SCAPEGOATS!
I think these types of articles should be given to all prospective teachers and administrators. I AM SURE THAT THIS WILL HELP BRING MORE QUALITY EDUCATORS INTO THE DISTRICT.

I read this article with disgust. This year, our principal changed our roster times. Our doors still open at 8 am for breakfast. Now we pick-up our students in the cafeteria at 8:30 am. Because so many students were coming to school 20-30 minutes after the first bell, when our intervention period took place, the principal changed the intervention period to the end of the day. It seems the ones who were coming in late were the ones who were always in the red zone and desperately needed the interventions. After a few months, it still doesn’t matter when the day starts, these same low achieving students still come in at 9 am. So now they’ve lost 30 minutes of instructional time. The best part? They expect breakfast to be served, like it’s a diner! I remember one parent brought her daughter to school at 10 am and wanted her to have breakfast. I said no since her lunch was going to be served in 45 minutes. She complained to the principal who said had my back. PLEASE! This is an elementary school where all of the students live within boundaries. We have students who live ACROSS THE STREET who come in late on a consistent basis!

Again with the one-size-fits-all mentality. Ms. Fisher, just because it worked somewhere else doesn’t mean it’ll work here. Instead of spouting off, how about doing some research, going out in the field, visiting several schools in different districts?

You can go off on a rant any time you like. You’re a Philadelphia public school teacher, so you not only talk the talk (like Jonathan Stein and Kathy Fisher), but you also walk the walk in the classroom every single day. Besides, what you wrote isn’t a “rant,” it was very factual, insightful information that rarely gets revealed to the public. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences.